This invention relates to diesel fuels, and more particularly, to a diesel fuel detergent additive.
In the use of diesel fuels in diesel engines, the fuel's degradation products build up on metal surfaces and clog the injectors of the diesel engines.
When diesel fuel injectors become clogged or develop deposits, the spray of the fuel into the combustion chamber is not uniform and/or atomized properly, resulting in poor combustion, increased exhaust emissions and smoke and degraded fuel economy and power. Eventually, these deposits build up to the point which would require replacement or some special maintenance. In extreme cases, irregular combustion could cause hot spots on the piston which have resulted in total engine failure requiring a complete engine overhaul or replacement.
Since there has been a need for making certain that diesel fuel injectors are clean during operation of the diesel engines, additives have been developed to clean diesel fuel injectors.
According to the present invention, it has been found that a Mannich coupled bis-succinimide is an excellent cleaning agent for diesel fuels since it prevents diesel fuel injectors from clogging. This result was unexpected since it was not thought that the cleaning agent in the gasoline detergent would be sufficiently thermally stable to withstand the high temperatures found at the fuel injector tips of the diesel engine.
Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide a means for keeping diesel fuel injectors clean and to provide an additive for such diesel fuels to aid in the removal of deposits in diesel engines.